I know many of you are eager to purchase the film on DVD and I continue to get regular requests both from individuals and organizations. I want to let you know that I'm working on finding a distributor as well as the more technical details. I hope to have an update for everyone fairly soon. In the meantime, I appreciate your continuing patience.

For those of you interested in reading Rabbi Soloveitchik's thoughts about Tisha B'Av (the Fast of the Ninth of Av, which begins the night of 7/29), there are a few books I can recommend:

The Lord is Righteous in All His Ways: Reflections on the Tish‘ah be-Av Kinot is a lengthy but accurate adaptation of the Rav's remarks on the themes and liturgy of the day, taken from his annual marathon day-long session in Boston. The book is edited by Rabbi Jacob J. Schacter, an advisor an interview subject in the film. It is available from Amazon
and KTAV and your local Judaica store. R. Schacter supplemented his notes with an chapter in the book Mentor of Generations, also available from Amazon
and KTAV.

Out of the Whirlwind: Essays on Mourning, Suffering and the Human Condition is a masterful collection of essays by Rabbi Soloveitchik on mourning and suffering. You can find it on Amazon
and KTAV.

Both books should also be available at your local Judaica store.

Here are some of the screenings that took place over the last few months:

April 5, there was a small screening at Boston University. The screening was presented by the Jewish Learning Initiative, B.U. Beit Midrash Society, and The Vilna Shul. Rabbi Avi Heller wrote that there was "a nice mix of students, community people and young professionals" in attendance.

May 14, there was a screening for the senior students and faculty of Stern Hebrew High School in Philadelphia, PA.

May 19, the film screened at Congregation Edmond J. Safra in Manhattan. Rabbi Haskel Lookstein of Kehillat Jeshurun spoke following the screening. Alissa Shams, director of programming at Safra wrote:

It was a great event. We had over 250 people. The movie was very inspiring, and Rabbi Lookstein added a lot of his own personal stories. Many people complimented the evening.

May 24, there was a screening at the Queens Jewish Center in Forest Hills, NY. The screening was co-sponsored by Young Israel of Forest Hills. Following the screening, there was a discussion featuring Rabbis Fabian Shonfeld and Julius Berman. Around 300 people attended. Thanks to Rabbi Benjamin Geiger for putting the screening together.

June 14 was the San Diego Premiere at Beth Jacob Congregation. I spoke following the screening and I was warmly received by the crowd of around 150. Special thanks to Lawrence Kaplan and Rabbi Avraham Bogopulsky for putting the screening together.

July 6, there was a screening for the students and faculty of the Wurzweiler School of Social Work at Yeshiva University. Carmen Ortiz Hendricks,
Associate Dean and Professor, wrote:

The Dean and I thoroughly enjoyed the film and can think of many ways to use it in different MSW courses. I found it to be an excellent Human Behavior in the Social Environment film since it chronicles Erickson’s seven stages of life of an albeit unique individual but a very human man as well. It is so aptly a “Yeshiva University” film! At the end, when they spoke about Soloveitchik’s teachings being as relevant today, I wanted to say that social work students at Wurzweiler study his work in Jewish Social Philosophy a course which is a prerequisite for the study of Social Work Values and Ethics. These courses are a distinguishing factor of Wurzweiler graduates.

Once again, I'd appreciate it if you could forward this email to anyone else who might be interested in this information. And here's a link to the Facebook group for the film.

If you have an interesting experience or story connected to the film, please don't hesitate to share them with me. You can simply reply to this email (don't worry, it will only go to me).

If you wish to not receive any more emails regarding screenings but you do want to be informed when the DVD is available, please reply to this email with your request, and I will move you to a special list.